Koprulu Sector Crash Landing
by rangeremx
Summary: A strange crash landing in on the devastated planet of Tarsonis brings an unexpected ally for Jim Raynor and his band of raiders.


25 June 2503

It's been 2 years since the end of the Brood Wars. An uneasy peace has somewhat formed in the galaxy. The former Confederate Ghost Kerrigan, now the Queen of Blades, leader of the Zerg swarm, has disappeared from all scanners in the Koprulu Sector. Captain James Raynor, the human who was instrumental in the defense of Aiur to allow many Protoss to fall back to Shakuras, now is a fugitive. He and his small armada are now wandering aimlessly from planet to planet acting as mercenaries, rather than the proud soldiers and sailors that they were during the Brood War. Arcturus Mensgk is now the emperor of the Terran Dominion. Zeratul has become the leader of the Dark Templar and they are now essentially licking their wounds from the Brood Wars.

Ruins of the Confederacy's capital city of Tarsonis City, Tarsonis

1027 STANDARD

The APOD-33 dropship flew quickly over the rubble until setting down in the center of the City park, one of the few remaining clear spots in the former capital of the fallen Terran Confederacy. The three aging CF/A-17G Wraith space superiority fighters along for defense patrol the area nervously.

The rear cargo door of the APOD opens up and a blur moves out and into the shadows where it remains unseen. The APOD jumps back into the air and moves away for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the Ghost that had jumped out of the dropship makes a quick reconnaissance patrol and contacts the ship. The air group returns and the dropship sets back down and shuts it's engines down. It's back doors open and a platoon of armour clad Marines and Firebats clamber out. Leading this ground party is Captain James Raynor.

"Captain sir, Specialist Robertson reporting surrounding areas clear of any lifeforms."

"Very well Robertson. LISTEN UP MARINES! We're only staying here one hour. That's SIXTY MINUTES. We need to find the parts and get out of here. NOW FALL OUT!"

The Marines break formation and start running towards the old Spaceport in the Northwest area of the city. On their way there, one of the younger Marines, a PFC, notices a second bright light in the sky and calls out to the Sargent and points, "SARGE! Look at that in the sky. What the hell is that? It's too small to be a capital ship. But it's too big to be a dropship."

"Well, Private, why don't you go with Corporal Ramirez and Lance Corporal Jennings and check it out. Just remember that we got fifty minutes until Cap wants us back to the 'POD to get off this rock," then over his comm link he calls to Raynor, "Cap'n, grab team. We have seen a strange object on a collision course with the planet. I've sent a three man team to investigate."

"Got it Sarge."

With that, the three Marines move off towards where it looked like the mysterious object crashed. They duck through the ruins of the city and sweep over each block with their C-14 Gauss Rifles to ensure that the Ghost didn't miss anything. They reach the wreckage, which appears to be the remains of a strangely designed human spacecraft. The marines slowly creep forward and draw ever closer to the wreckage. On the end of the wreckage is a halfway open hatch revealing a damaged cryo tube bank of which all the tubes are open or damaged, except for the one closest to the computer console. That one seems to be in halfway decent condition, still appearing to be operating decently. There also appears to be a armour clad person inside the operational tube.

Lcpl Jennings gets on the radio and calls, "Raider Base this is Raid Two, come in Raider Base."

"Raid Two this is base, we copy."

"Base, we got a crashed human spacecraft over here with a guy in a cryo tube. Looks like the only survivor of this craft. Request instructions."

"Raid Two, investigate and attempt to recover the man, if possible."

"Roger that base. Don't leave without us. Raid Two out," then to the rest of the team, "You heard the man boys, lets get to it."

The team then runs to the crashed ship and begins working at opening the rear hatch the rest of the way. Once it's open they move towards the cryo tube and access it's life support functions, which all are still in operational condition. The Marines of Raid Two attempt to open the hatch and the nearby console lights up and a holographic image of a young female appears.

"Access to Cryo Tube-117 is restricted. Cryo tubes 118-130 are damaged and inoperable," says the hologram.

Then Ramirez asks, "Computer, state reason for tube 117 being restricted."

"Firstly, my name is Cortana. Secondly, the reason for it being restricted is that he is the last remaining survivor of a joint UNSC-Sangheili operation to prevent the firing of the Halo rings."

"What the hell are you talking about? What are the Sangheili? And what are these Halo rings?"

"Wait, wait, wait. Where the hell are we? What system and planet?"

"We are on the planet Tarsonis in the Koprulu Sector."

"That planet doesn't show on any of my memory banks. What the hell is going on. We must've gotten partway through the portal and came out somewhere else. I'll open the Cryo tube and we can let him know whats going on. Wait, I don't even know if he's ok..."

"Cortana, slow down a moment. Before you came back online, we were accessing the tube and the life support systems all indicate normal."

"That's a relief. Commencing thaw out now."

Then, over the next few minutes the outer case of the tube slowly warms up and opens, allowing the now wakened Spartan to climb out of the tube. He walks to the console, transfers Cortana into his onboard mainframe and turns to Raid Two.

"Master Chief, Spartan-117, reporting. Where are we, what year is it and what is going on? Your armour is unlike any I've ever seen."

"Well Master Chief, it is the year 2503. You are on the planet Tarsonis in the Koprulu Sector and we are Marines of a roving armada of refugees. Our commander will be able to tell you more when we get back to the _Hyperion_."

"Very well. Let's see what sort of gear is still onboard this part of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ and move it to your ship."

"Sounds like a plan Master Chief. Cortana, report intact adjoining spaces."

"The armoury and part of the med bay are just forward and port or starboard respectively. Both spaces are heavily damaged, but remain structurally sound. The vehicle bay is also heavily damaged, but stable. It's just below this compartment."

The three marines and the Spartan move through the forward hatch and step into the damaged corridor, seeing the sunlight filter in through the gaping hole at the end of the passage. They proceed into the armoury, opening the weapons lockers and gathering up what weapons were there. They gathered up the vast assortment of weapons, both UNSC and captured Covenant, located in there and carried them down to the vehicle bay. They load these weapons up into a pair of slightly damaged M12 Warthog LRVs. They then return to the med bay and move what medical supplies were still intact to the Warthogs as well. Then Jennings calls back to base, "Raider Base, Raid Two. We have recovered one survivor as well as a Starship grade AI system. We also recovered some miscellaneous weaponry and a pair of vehicles. En route to the drop zone."

"Roger that Raid Two. Contacting _Hyperion_ for another APOD. Base out."

"Raid Two, this is Raid Commander. Does this survivor have a name?"

"Yes sir. Survivor's name is John. Designation Spartan-117."

"Understood. Command out."

The two LRVs roll out in unison, LCpl Jennings leading. They roar over the smaller rubble piles on the remains of the roads to get back to the drop site, constantly searching the terrain, more out of habit than neccessity. All of a sudden, a group of hydralisks jump out of the ground and charged the Warthogs. PFC Gregory opened fire on the Zerg with the rear-mounted M41 LAAG2, while calling the LZ for assistance. The Master Chief jumped out of his 'Hog and drew his captured Type-1 Energy Sword and charged directly at them. Ramirez just stares for a moment, dumbstruck before opening fire with his M41. The Chief calls over the radio net for them to hold fire, and in a flurry of movement, glides from hydralisk to hydralisk, slicing each in turn. He takes a couple spines to the chest, but none penetrate. They all just glance off of his Mjolnir Mk VI armour, their impact absorbed by his energy shields. Within twenty seconds, the hydralisks were all dead, their bodies in pieces on the ground. Cpl Ramirez calls to the Chief, "We'd better get out of here before more arrive."

The Spartan hops back into the second Warthog and they finish driving back to the LZ. They arrive in the middle of a fierce firefight, a medium size Zerg advance Brood versus the small Terran raiding party. The Raiders are holding the line about 30 meters from the two APOD dropships. The Spartan calls to LCpl Jennings to follow him and proceeds to drive headlong into the approaching Zerg. The front end of the Warthog crushes a large number of the Zerg attackers and begins forcing them back. A few frantic minutes later, the Zerg brood lies dead and Raynor's Raiders load up for the flight back to _Hyperion_.


End file.
